Divided Bloodline: A Star Wars Story
by echoesofthe4mpire
Summary: Evelie is a girl with high-flying dreams of flying TIE Fighters and serving the Empire. She's wanted to be a pilot for as long as she can remember. Her parents, however, harbor a dark secret that may send her dreams crashing down... *please review*
1. Chapter One: Leaving

The little girl stared out the window of the blue-walled house, her wispy amber hair fluttering across her face from the breeze that blew in between the tattered white curtains. She laid her hand on the head of a peach-and-white astromech droid, who bleeped soothingly and rubbed against her leg. She could hear the clattering and clanging of her parents hastily packing their whole lives and all their possessions away into boxes and choked back a tear. She was _not_ crying again today- she had already cried when her parents first started packing everything away. She gazed up at the pale azure-blue sky of the planet of Oriole, knowing that it was the last chance she would get to admire the beauty of her home planet with it's rolling green fields and sparkling crystal cliffs for a long, long time. Absorbed in her thoughts, she startled at her mother's voice.

"Ev, can you come here, please? Daddy and I... we need to talk to you." With a nervous gulp, the little girl walked over to where her parents were waiting in the sun-dappled kitchen of their humble home.

"Sweetheart, we know that this move is tough for you, and we know that you've been wondering why we're going away..." her mother began hesitantly, glancing at her husband- the girl's father- to continue.

"Well..." Her husband said, "we're moving to Coruscant because... well, because I got a new job! I'm going to work for the R-"  
Before he could finish his sentence, his wife elbowed him sharply, leaning closer to him and snarling in a whisper- "For goodness sake, she's only seven, Aaran! You know kids, they repeat everything they hear. She doesn't need to know."

The little girl was starting to look confused. Aaran uttered a quick apology to his wife, Taza, and hastily finished- "for, um... the Redder Corporation! You know, the company that makes the speeders?" The girl's father said happily, forcing a note of cheerfulness and optimism into his voice and smiling a wide smile that he prayed looked genuine.

Taza breathed a sigh of relief. The little girl nodded- she had heard of the Redder Corporation through their ads on the HoloNet, advertising the latest-and-greatest luxury speeders for sale. Aaran gave himself an imaginary pat on the back for his good cover-up.

"Now, do you have all your things packed? Is there anything you forgot?" Taza said to her daughter. The little girl shook her head no. "Good, now go wait in the shuttle." The girl slung her backpack over her shoulders and, with a small sigh, looked back at her childhood home for the last time before climbing into the family's battered old shuttle.

Glancing at each other sadly, Taza and Aaran scooped up the boxes containing their possessions and put them into the cargo hold of the shuttle. The peach-and-white astromech, faithful as ever, followed them into the shuttle and plopped down at the little girl's feet, who offered a sad smile at the sight of him.

With a sentimental glance back, Aaran flew the shuttle out of the planet's atmosphere and blasted off into hyperspace towards Coruscant.

Towards their new home.


	2. Chapter Two: 7 Years Later

14 year-old Evelie Dyer ran through the colorful underworld of Coruscant, her eyes bright. As she ran she glanced upward, taking comfort in the familiar Imperial insignia waving overhead on blood-red banners and admiring the TIE fighters that streaked overhead, mixed in with civilian speeders and starships in the constant stream of air traffic above. She was so focused on the TIEs, in fact, that she couldn't see where she was going and slammed into the back of her friend Lora Vratė, who spinned around in surprise.

"Evelie!" Lora exclaimed. "Can't believe we just ran into each other! How has your weekend been?"

"Good," Evelie said softly, only partly listening. She was still staring up at the sky, he gaze focused on one particular TIE that had begun spinning and doing loop-de-loops in the sky. Evelie imagined being that pilot, soaring above everything without a care in the world and-

"Evelie! Always looking at those starfighters, aren't you? All the teachers at school have already told you to stop spacing out- you're gonna get in trouble for that one day." Lora's sharp but teasing voice cut through her thoughts like a knife. Evelie blinked rapidly and turned back towards her classmate with a smile.  
Lora punched her arm lightly, casually. "Come on, you wanna come to my house and hang?"

Evelie nodded. "Yeah, I just gotta run to the store and pick up some things for my parents first."

Lora nodded. "Ok. See you then."

Evelie turned and walked away towards the store, quickly consulting her list and picking up nutrition packs, spare data chips, and batteries for her dad's next business trip- he always seemed to be going off to some backwater Imperial world to market the products of the Redder Corporation, the company he worked for. She raced back home with the items to drop them off and tell her mother she was going to Lora's house.

The Dyer family's home wasn't exactly the prettiest on the outside- it looked the same as all the other houses on their level of Coruscant, with a tiny cramped garden in the back and a cracked foundation. The inside, however, was a sight to behold- it had blue walls in the living room, as a tribute to the skies of the planet of Oriole where they had once lived. The other rooms were colorful and chock-full of family photos, exotic plants, paintings, shells and seaglass from Oriole's beaches, and other unusual momentos. Evelie saw her mother, Taza, cleaning out the kitchen- her mother only had a small, part-time job at a hospital, so she was home most of the time- and gave the items she bought to her.

"Thanks, Ev," her mother said, using her parent's pet name for her. "Your father will be grateful- he's been so busy lately getting prepared and fixing up the old ship the company gave him."

"I'm going to Lora's, I'll be back in a few hours." Evelie said, already heading for the door and patting her peach-and-white astromech, R4-C9, on the way by.  
"Oh, Ev, that reminds me, I forgot to tell you that before your father leaves for his trip, we are all going to an Imperial banquet tonight at 6:00 in their palace. Apparently there's gonna be a military parade and a party in honor of the Empire's recent success, and everyone on Coruscant is invited."

"Really?" Evelie asked. "A real military parade, with TIE fighters and everything?"

"Yep!" Her mom said happily. "Your father is getting out of work early today to come with us. Make sure you're back by then."  
"Okay!" Evelie said excitedly, sprinting out the door. Happiness flowed through her. She would finally get to see starfighters up close and in action!


	3. Chapter Three: The Banquet

Evelie gulped and stared around the main hall of the massive Imperial Palace, feeling as though all the eyes in the room were on her. She wasn't exactly sure where her parents had gone- they had seen some old friends of theirs and vanished into the crowd. She cautiously began edging her way through the crowd, scooting past humans and aliens from all corners of the galaxy. She stopped to examine the exotic food laid out on the banquet tables in the center of the hall and realized she didn't recognize any of the food. She nervously reached for a fluffy cream-colored pastry that looked a bit like a croissant and bit into it; she spit it out nearly instantly, frantically grabbing a cup of water to rinse away the bitterly gamey taste. She curled what remained of it into a napkin and tossed it before anyone noticed.

She suddenly heard her father, Aaran, call her name. "Evelie! Come here!" She glanced over her shoulder, seeing where her parents were sitting at a table in the back with two of their friends, and ran over to them.

Once she reached the table, she stood awkwardly to the side of her father's chair, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "This is our daughter Evelie; she's fourteen." her father said proudly, resting his hand on her shoulder. Both of the strangers sitting with her parents were obviously higher-ups in the Imperial military, judging by their flashy uniforms and immaculate rows of colorful blocks on them that indicated their ranks. One of the Imperials, an older human man with sandy-grey hair, stretched out a hand and shook hers with a warm smile. The other Imperial, a twenty-something year-old blue-haired human female with a blaster-bolt scar on her cheek, simply grunted and didn't make eye contact.

"Evelie, this is Brill Kon and Merisee Leats," her father said, indicating the two. "They work as strategic control officers for the Empire." Evelie nodded, giving them a shy smile. "So, Evelie, are you excited for the military parade? There's gonna be a TIE fighter flyover- your father was telling me how much you like starfighters." Brill, the human man, said.

"Yeah, um.. I'm excited, I guess." Evelie said, silently cringing at every word in her mind. _Honestly_ _, Evelie, why can't you talk to strangers? You're acting like a child. Grow up!_

"Great! Well, Merisee and I better go meet with some other folks before the parade starts. It was nice talking to you, though." Brill said. Brill and Merisee then stood up and headed off towards a loud group of partygoers wearing pins of the Imperial symbol on their shirts.

After that, Evelie's parents started drifting between groups, talking and laughing and joking with people and trying all the food. Evelie followed them everywhere, too shy to venture off on her own and see if there were any other kids her age attending the party.

After what felt like an eternity of humiliatingly forced conversation and randomly avoiding people, the parade finally started. Hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of spectators lined the streets, Evelie and her family among them, and watched stormtroopers march, Imperial officers and admirals give speeches, and AT-ST's clomp by.

Finally came the TIE fighter flyover. Evelie sat on the curb in front of the palace with her parents by her side, scanning the skies eagerly for any sign of a TIE. Suddenly a low shrieking sound started to emerge, gradually getting louder and louder until-

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Twenty standard TIE/LN fighters came ripping through the air only a few yards away from Evelie, followed by two TIE/sa bombers and five TIE/IN Interceptors. Evelie clapped and cheered with excitement. She watched in awe as the zippity little fighters soared through the sky, performing elaborate acrobatics and weaving between buildings and through alleyways. They even fired a few bolts of fire, searing heat that Evelie could feel on her face even from far away.

After it was all over and the crowd was leaving and the parade had ended and the TIE's had flown back to their base, Evelie turned back to her parents with wonder in her eyes and said-

"I want to be a TIE pilot!"


	4. Chapter Four: A Choice

Evelie's parents sat at their kitchen table late at night after the party, Evelie asleep in her room upstairs. Taza ran her fingers through her hair; it was her nervous habit. Aaran reached across the table and stroked Taza's hand.

"Don't worry, Taz. It'll work out," he said, his voice low and consoling.

"But I just don't know what we're going to do!" Taza exclaimed, her eyes red with stress and worry. "We can't just crush the kid's dreams; you saw how excited she was today during that parade. She's been playing with her little TIE fighter models and running around the house with her arms outstretched pretending to be a starfighter since she could walk- it's _our_ fault. We should have put a stop to this when she was little, so we wouldn't have to break her heart now."

"Well, then we're just going to have to tell her the truth about my job. About the Empire. And about why _nobody_ in our family can ever work for the Imperials." Aaran responded, his tone grave.

"We can't! She'll hate us for the rest of her life! Who knows, she might even run away to go join the Imperial Academy, or report us and have us locked up. Her mind has been made up since day one." Suddenly her eyes went dark, her mind whirring with the beginnings of an idea. "But... if she goes to the Imperial Academy... and she gets an insider's view on what the Empire is planning... maybe we can get her to tell us what they're doing in there, and you could pass it on to your boss. She won't know she's a spy- she'll just think the secrets of the Empire are safe with us, her loving parents who would never even _dream_ of picking up a rifle to fight. Once she graduates, she'll continue to tell us everything, and eventually one day we can sneak her out and make her into one of us."

"Taza..." Aaran said, his voice wobbly. "Are you sure we want to do this to her? She'll be devastated if she finds out, and we'll _all_ likely be executed- even her."

Taza looked up, her gaze hard as steel.

"Let's do it."


End file.
